PITTSBURGH – When Henrik Lundqvist finally opened his right eye, he didn’t know what to expect. But he feared the worst.
“For probably 20 or 30 seconds there, I had some really bad thoughts going through my head,” Lundqvist said Friday of the moment he took teammate Marc Staal’s stick blade to the face. “It was very scary actually.”
Fortunately for him and the New York Rangers, his worst fears weren’t realized. A visit to a specialist on Thursday confirmed that there was no structural damage to his eye and Lundqvist was able to return to practice a day later, putting him in position to start Game 2 against Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.
The Rangers are exercising caution and officially have him listed as a “game-time decision,” but all signs point to Lundqvist starting his 112th consecutive playoff game.
That greatly enhances their odds of tying the series up before it shifts to Madison Square Garden.
“There is a definite bonus in the fact that Hank has won so many big games for our team and this organization,” said coach Alain Vigneault. “If he can play tomorrow, he’ll have a positive impact, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
First he’ll have to wipe the traumatic Game 1 moment from his memory. Staal was battling Oskar Sundqvist for position in front of the goal late in the first period when his stick jabbed Lundqvist directly through his “Cat Eye” goalie cage.
That sent the Rangers star kicking to the ice. Initially he thought he might have been blinded.
“It was such a weird feeling because it was extremely painful, but at the same time you go numb a little bit,” he said. “So you don’t know what’s going on. Before you open your eyes you don’t really know what the reaction will be.
“That was the scary part the first 20 or 30 seconds, not knowing. I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t sure if the eye (was OK).”
The only evidence of Lundqvist’s injury was a small mark on his eyelid. He’s experienced some swelling, but you couldn’t tell when he spoke with reporters at Consol Energy Center on Friday afternoon.
The veteran goalie has used the “Cat Eye” cage since entering the NHL and indicated that he doesn’t see a need to change it. He views it as a one-off situation.
“I haven’t seen many incidents like this over the years,” said Lundqvist. “Accidents happen, injuries happen. I feel still as a goalie you’re pretty well protected. I don’t see it as an issue.”
Both teams in this series are dealing with injuries to some of their top players. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is currently recovering from a concussion while star centre Evgeni Malkin is working his way back from a shoulder injury.
They might play in Game 2 – coach Mike Sullivan labelled their progress as “very encouraging” on Friday – but it’s far from a certainty.
The Rangers will be without defencemen Ryan McDonagh (right hand) and Dan Girardi (undisclosed), making Lundqvist’s likely availability even more important. They’ll be dressing both Brady Skjei and Dylan McIlrath on the blue line.
Pittsburgh did almost all of its damage in Game 1 after Lundqvist was replaced by Antti Raanta to start the second period. Lundqvist has had the Penguins’ number in the past, playing stellar while knocking them out of the playoffs the last two seasons.
“He’s one of the best,” said Sidney Crosby. “He’s a guy that can change a game. We’ll see what happens.”
Lundqvist said his vision was blurry immediately after getting hit by Staal’s stick, but it has steadily improved since. He initially remained in the game, allowing the opening goal to Patric Hornqvist 31 seconds later, but didn’t return after the intermission.
“Coming into the locker-room, I felt like the swelling got a little worse and it was harder and harder to get that crisp focus,” he said. “For a goalie it’s pretty much everything. You need to be able to focus quickly on moving objects. A few minutes before the second period I tried to get that focus and it was just not good enough to play.”
It was a scary situation. One that very easily could have been much worse.
